lauralyn - Sounds like you're doing great!

SomethingBeautiful - Welcome! Sounds like IF will fit you well. I (and I think everyone else) eat the same number of calories, it's just the time frame you consume them in is smaller. If 1800 is what you would eat to lose, then it's also what you'll eat on IF.

Kattt - Welcome, great to hear how well IF has been working for you! I'm curious, how low carb do you combine it with?

sarahmac - Have you read Fast-5 ebook? Just curious how it compares to E-S-E information-wise. I do like the leangain website, but find the ebook style easier to follow and more relevant to myself.

Katydid77 - Jealous! Have a LOT of fun shopping in the city

Starting day 1 today..go figure for once I woke up hungry haha. But I only have until 1, so Its okay :-) Wish me luck today! I'll be reporting later :-)

5.6 lost in a week of IF lifestyle . . . . I know some of that was a bit of water weight left from TOM, but does that seem high to anyone else?
Not that I'm not thrilled, don't get me wrong but I should expect to slow down right?

Thanks for any insight . . . . still have to say it feels like the most natural way of eating for me, not at all struggling

Missjessica-

I have not read the ebook for fast-5. From browsing the website it looks like another variation on the theme. I know that Martin from leangains recommends a larger window of time for women to eat because of physiological reasons and diet compliance, but this is probably variable between persons.

I'll have to check out the fast 5 site some more to get a better idea of the differing components. I think people need to find what feels most satisfying to them because then it will work for them over the long haul : fast 5, larger eating windows, 24 hour fasts, your own version? I know that EatStopEat recommends eating around the same time for hormonal cues for hunger...so it seems it's best to just be consistent but not obsessed.

to all - what made IF attractive to you? What style of IF do you feel most satisfied doing? How do you incorporate exercise?

Looking into Fast Five the other day it seems like it would be a waste of money. Granted it is only $10 but there is nothing in the book from what I can tell that would be useful to know.

As someone who has done IF for over a year I assure you that calories matter. I wish there was a lot of magic to IF but if there is any magic it is minor and in health benefits unrelated to weight loss aside from the possibility that it helps retain LBM.

Getting to the point ... yes you should expect weight loss to slow. You were most likely retaining water for whatever reason and your body finally let it go probably because you were more relaxed in your new eating schedule or larger meals brought cortisol levels down or make up something and insert it here. The point is that calories matter.

I am on Day 4 of IF.

I feel energetic in the morning, but after I eat lunch (which is normally 400-600 calories since I eat a big dinner and a decent-sized dessert), I feel fatigued.

Is this normal?

So far the day has been awesome. I Noticed I drink more water now to calm the hunger, which is good, because increasing my water is always an issue. I was in class when my window opened, so I just had a few bites of a fiber one bar, but I really think this is gonna be good. I just ate a burrito bowl from chipotle, and it was healthy, suuuper filling, and I still have 900 cals left until 8 :-)

@Coondocks- CONGRATS on that nice loss!! I hope to have a good loss too!!

Thanks to everyone on this thread, you're all awesome :-)

A little question to all you Ifer's. I do IF off and on(didn't really realize it had a name).

My question is, do people around you - coworkers/family/friends, know the way you eat? and If so, what do they think about it?

I would never tell someone that some days I don't eat a thing until 5/6/7pm. It just SEEMS very unhealthy and just not something I could vocally say outloud to someone if that makes sense? Even though I do like eating that way sometimes and it does help keep me in check.
I'm just wondering if people around you, who don't IF , have a negative view of it, or what they think about you doing it?

Just checking in - today is day 4 for me too!

Doing really good - making it to my window now is hardly a problem - thanks everyone for encouraging me to hang in there!
I'm going to go until day 10 with my focus on making my window. Day 11 I will focus on making my calorie goals. I know it doesn't seem very ambitious, but I want to be cautious and not get discouraged or I'll give up - I know myself well enough to know I need to pace myself.

I've been doing a bad thing these last 3 days, and today it bit me in the butt. I'm an obsessive weigher - I check every day....sometimes 4 times a day. I was doing really well, down 1.5, down .5,, maintained, and now today, up 1.5. So I was very discouraged. I almost went off plan, but I recommitted myself. I told myself I wasn't being fair to me or the plan. I need to give this an HONEST try. So today, I am committing myself to weighing only 1x a week - Monday am. It will be difficult - I hate suspense, but it is the only way I am going to stick to this. Weighing everyday is not healthy and not accurate. Ionly need to look in the mirror to see that my body has changed already - my top fat roll doesn't stick out nearly as much as it did! Every time I stand up I'm hiking up my pants! And I know that whatever weight I do lose will be flesh, not water because I am drinking more water then ever!

Thank you everyone. I'm so grateful to you all and to this thread. I can't wait to be posting here in a year and being closer to goal than ever. I can't wait until I can change my siggy for a new mini goal!

I apologize to all for being selfish and self-absorbed, but personals are really hard for me. Just know that I read everyone's comments and am thinking about all of you.

I'm wishing everyone the best OP day so far!

So far I've told no one, but that is for my own sanity - I don't have a great support system here at home. JohnP has posted some great links to articles that support IF and can be used to defend IF if necessary for you.
All the best.

If anyone is concerned about IF affecting your health tell them JohnP says it is perfectly safe unless you're hypoglycemic.

J/K send them this link.

If that doesn't settle it nothing will.

Hi,everybody

I think I'll be hanging out here for a while. I have been in to fasting fasting for years, all kinds ( juice, water, interim,) my longest fast was 14 days long

On the 30th I will start my own interim. Fast as follows- 5 days fasting, 2 days eating , for the next 2 months (until June 1st) I need to loss 32 lbs. And detox because I've been feeling so sluggish

I have not decided what maintenance I will follow after that fasting 5 or eat stop eat. But, fasting 5 worked for me for years, before I even knew it had a name.

LAKERSKB24: I haven't told anyone yet and I don't really plan to. I don't want to unneccesaily worry them as many think that my counting calories is borderline eating disorder as it is. I do have a bunch of acquaintances that keep pushing me to eat lunch at 12.15, perfectly normal I guess but I am running out of excuses, even before IF I have always hated eating too early.

I know what u mean . I usually keep my fast to my self also. Most people think that it is unhealthily, but it is catching on.